


In the Dark Beside You

by mizface



Series: Linnet Bird [12]
Category: Canadian 6 Degrees, Harper's Island
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-07
Updated: 2011-10-07
Packaged: 2017-10-24 09:34:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/261861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mizface/pseuds/mizface
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written for a ds_snippets challenge, and in fact this was the one that started the Linnet Bird 'verse.  Title from <i>Sweeney Todd</i> lyrics.</p><p>Spoliery for the series, post-series AU</p>
    </blockquote>





	In the Dark Beside You

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a ds_snippets challenge, and in fact this was the one that started the Linnet Bird 'verse. Title from _Sweeney Todd_ lyrics.
> 
> Spoliery for the series, post-series AU

Harper’s Island changed them.

Madison’s mother became wary, hesitant, lost the confidence she’d worn as comfortably as any of her chic ensembles. Always caring, if sometimes distant, now she was nurturing to the point of smothering.

Madison hated it. She was accustomed to time alone, preferred it; now it was nearly non-existent. Once she’d tried to emulate her mother’s behavior; now she abhorred it.

But she stayed silent.

Her time with John had taught her the value of silence, of _listening_. The importance of choosing words, what they revealed or hid. What they made others show in turn.

They’d all assumed her captivity had been horrible. It hadn’t been; far from it. He’d fed her, kept her warm and dry. And he talked _with_ her, not _at_ her, like most adults. There in the dark, they’d whispered secrets big and small. And no matter what, John always _listened_.

So when he’d asked Madison to play his game, she’d agreed instantly. He’d needed her help, and she’d been happy to give it.

He’d trusted her in a way no one had. That was what haunted her still; she was sure she’d let him down.

But she could make it up to him. He’d taught her what he could in their short time together; the least she could do was put it to good use.

Once her mother died (so young, they said, but Mother had been dying since the Island. They both had been in a way, only now, _she_ could live), she knew it was time. Everything was in place. It was all too easy to make the change.

Facing the mirror, she smiled. “Hello, Johanna Wakefield,” she said, trying the name aloud for the first time.

It felt _right_.


End file.
